Wonkette
- A Texas oil company signed a deal with the Kurdish regional government last summer even though the State Department objected to anybody going over the heads of the Iraqi national government. Bush administration officials apparently told Hunt Oil “Yeah sure, make your deal with the Kurds, whatever.” [Washington Post, New York Times]
- Democrats have been complaining for, oh, at least four years that the US is “taking its eye off the ball” in Afghanistan, and now military officials agree. They are calling for more troops in the region, lest things go even more hell-in-a-handbasket-y. [Washington Post]
- Glamorous fugitive financier Samuel Israel spent 23 days on the lam hanging out in an RV park in Massachusetts. [Wall Street Journal]
- The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters that an Israeli airstrike on Iran would be bad for the US. “Opening up a third front right now would be extremely stressful for us,” he said. Has he told Bush any of this? [Los Angeles Times]
- A total of 15 hostages were freed from the Colomian rebel group FARC, and the details are pretty dramatic. [New York Times]
- McCain says he totally knew about that hostage rescue because President Uribe gave him the heads up when McCain was visiting. [The Hill]
DAILY BRIEFING
Wow, McCain had a hand in the heroic hostage rescue? He’s just like Jimmy Carter!
Afghanistan used to be the “good war” that you could talk about to defend your patriotism, support for the troops, and feminism, since the Americans saved Afghan women from the burqa and Taliban.
No-mo.
Come ‘n listen to my story ’bout a man named Bush
A dim leagacy, barely kept his family fed
And then one day, he was clearing some brush
And that evil ole Cheney came with a plan so rude
Oil, that is, black gold, Iraqi tea
Well, the first thing you know, old Bush’s a leader
Neo Cons said, Afghanistan, shouldn’t go there
Said, Iwaqi is the place you oughta be
So they loaded up the tanks and they moved to Baghdad
Iraq, that is, green zones, IEDs
Well, now it’s time to say goodbye to Bush and all his buds
They would like to thank the Army for kindly droppin’ in
You’re all being stop lossed back to this locality
To keep safe the legacy of their venality
Claim Jumping, that is, set a spell, watch out for snipers
Y’all come back now, hear?
ManchuCandidate: Hey, loved that trago-parody. Nice reference to stop loss–which, for da dudes who don’t know, means, y’all *go* back now, here,,,,,
“Opening up a third front right now would be extremely stressful for us”
Forcing the U.S. to use Ambien to get some sleep.
That Samuel Isreal guy punked out. He should of made a last “you are not gonna take me alive copper” stand. Maybe he would of gotten a movie deal.
All the pics of Sam Israel make him look like a total douchebag. Oh wait, he’s a Tulane grad. Never mind, there’s proof positive.
Anyone remember the tut tutting that the WSJ, the NYT and American politicians did during the Asian Contagion back during Bubba’s administration with all that talk of “crony capitalism”? Ha! Thanks GWB for proving that our Asian friends were simply practicing the only kind of capitalism that there is.
WALNUTS! knew all along. Actually, he advised the Columbian military on the details. Yeah, that’s the ticket. *And* he personally led the squad in execution of the plan. Then, he hugged all the former hostages, changed his Depends, and rode off into the sunset in his favorite wheelchair, Bombtrigger.
Also, the W. admin and cronyism? Say it ain’t so! It’s getting to the point that when I read ‘..the Bush administration..’ in any context, my outrage starts to rise. ‘…the Bush Administration announces a cure for cancer..’ LIES DAMN THEM!
The Hunts own the Bush administration. The only thing the border wall is by-passing in Texas is the Hunt property. UT Brownsville has been fighting getting their campus cut in half by the wall, Ma and Pa Kettle’s house is being razed because they can’t scoot the wall over 50′ to miss their tiny yard, but the wall stops at one end of the Hunt ranch and picks up on the other end. This gap, somehow, is magic and no one with a skin tone darker than light pink will be able to find their way through it.
bearbait: An army of Dick Cheneys, armed with shotguns, are perpetually hunting that area. Cloning, you know.
Is the Colomian rebel group affiliated with Gary Coleman?
Humble Pi: No, he is a modern day Hannibal and Lieberman is Face. It’s Bizarro A-Team!
“McCain says he totally knew about that hostage rescue because President Uribe gave him the heads up when McCain was visiting.”
Bullshit. WALNUTS! was in Colombia to drop off some cash to the local paramilitaries. Since his fundraiser Carl Lindner of Chiquita was busted for paying off the local terrorists and fined $25 million for that “oversight,” Carl’s had a hard time finding a low profile way to pay off the local murderers. WALNUTS! just stuffed a few mil in his diapers before heading to Bogota and delivered the “hot Carl cash” to the AUN.
Result? Release of hostages who had been held for years by the AUN, and not FARC. Coinkydink or C-C-Conspiracy?
USofA: sponsoring covert terrorism for as long as there’s been a buck to be made.
bearbait: It’s more of a challenge when one is hunting free-range Messicans who aren’t all tired from having to climb over a wall first. Good sportsmanship is a Hunt family trait.
Carafano [of the Heritage Foundation] said he thinks the next president could reduce forces in Iraq significantly by 2011, allowing a “responsible force” to be in Afghanistan by that time.
Oh, hi guys. You must be the people of Afghanistan, where the 9/11 plot was conceived, and whom our president promised never to forget. Well don’t worry — we’re just getting things wrapped up in Iraq, but as soon as Exxon starts squeezing oil out of that turnip, you guys are absolutely our next priority. We’ve turned a corner there, for sure, and if you can just maintain for, oh, three more years, there’s a good chance we’ll have a responsible force here, and we’ll whup hell out of them Taliban.
So, nice spread ya got here — this subsistence farming’s not so bad, is it? What are you growing? Cluster bombs — really? Just so long as it’s not that opium stuff — just say no and everything, right? Ha ha. Okay, seeya in 2011 — never forget!
I bet the rebels gave those hostages up because they were threatened with a ‘good talking to’ by Johnny Mac. Even they didn’t want to hear how great things were during the Depression & all those “when I was your age” stories.
The exodus of Israel is over–and it didn’t take 40 years of wandering. The way the stock market is going now there will plenty of hedge fund managers jumping off the Bear Market (oops!) Bear Mountain Bridge in the future.